Waking Death
by awkwardmouse
Summary: After a freak accident in Sozin's Industry's medical labs, a virus has escaped and is attacking the population as a whole. Now it's up to the Aang to save the world from this zombie apocalypse.
1. Bad News

Breaking News! The words flashed on the screen before the focus was turned to the reporter. More than just her normal serious expression, she looked panicked. "Good Evening. I am Wu Kangren with some breaking news. Sozin Medical Research is reporting a break in at one of their labs, and has immediately called a press conference. We go to the Chairman, live."

The scene switched. No longer was it a woman at a desk, but instead a man standing at a lectern. It was a man the whole world knew as Chairman Ozai. Ozai, the grandson of the founder of Sozin's Comet, was the richest and most powerful man in the world. His grandfather started the takeover, where companies began to own the land, taking it from the people, and Ozai happily followed through.

Now he was speaking to the world with an expression that read as concerned, but there was something hidden behind that concern. It was almost as if he was happy.

"People of the world! Something horrible has occurred. Last night, someone broke into our medical research lab and took something very important to us — something that should have never been taken outside the lab." He paused, letting his words sink in. "They took a virus, something our company was working with in order to find a cure. But it was taken before a cure could be discovered."

The crowd erupted with questions, asking what the virus was, what it did, and how security could have been breached when the company prided itself on so many fail safe measures.

"I will answer your questions when I am _finished_," he snapped at the reporters below the lectern.

"As I was saying." He continued, "This virus is highly contagious, and it spreads through physical contact. It attacks the brain, and causes the body to die, but the brain remains working. The best way to describe this is it is like the dead have come back to life. I cannot say much more about it because we have not been able to study it further. However, I will say that we are trying to find a way to contain it.

"Please note, if you see anyone with the infection, kill them on sight. They will not look like a normal person. They will look dead. If you let them get near, they will infect you, and you will not die. But your life would be far worse than death. So if your loved one gets infected, killing them would be the right thing to do. Thank you."

Ozai stepped down from the stage, leaving the lectern. The reporters were calling for him, wanting their questions answered, but he answered none.

The screen flashed back to the reporter. She went on to explain that she had been given a press release that mentioned the name Sozin Medical Research named this virus, _Waking Death_.

Those were the last words Katara heard before her mother turned off the TV.

"You shouldn't be watching that." Kya told her daughter. "That Ozai is a very bad man and is probably lying to scare everyone."

Katara nodded. "Okay, mommy."

But even though Katara listened to her mother, she didn't believe her. The Sozin Corporation owned nearly everything, even the apartment building they lived in. How could the man who ran the company that gave Katara and her family a home be such a bad guy?

If only Katara knew then what she knows now.


	2. A Death in the Family

Suddenly everything was moving so fast. She was at home with her mother when her father came bursting into the room, and that was all Katara knew. Panic filled the air, and it scared Katara. She just wanted everything to go back to the way it was just 5 minutes ago. Instead, she just watched her parents rushing around, grabbing whatever they could. If they were saying something, Katara couldn't hear them, the screams from outside finally reached her ears.

Afraid but also curious, Katara started to head towards the door to see what was going on, but before she was able to take a step outside, Sokka was at the door, pushing her back in.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" He snapped at her. He'd never looked so angry before.

His anger made her step away, back into their apartment.

"Dad! They're getting closer! We have to get going." Something about Sokka had changed. He was no longer Katara's goofy older brother. He was serious. Almost as if he was a real leader like he always pretended he was.

"Honey?" Hakoda looked at his wife, who nodded in return.

"So it's true? The virus?"

"Yes."

Katara reached up to her mother, who picked her up. Virus? Wasn't that what the evil man Ozai was talking about on the TV the other day?

"All our friends-" The rage inside Hakoda could no longer be contained. "They never received jobs for Sozin's Comet. All of them? They were test subjects. And now-"

He didn't need to finish, Kya understood.

"We'll leave through the back entrance."

Sokka took the lead, carrying a club, while Hakoda took the rear with his gun, leaving Katara and Kya safely in the middle. They were going to all make it out of here.

"We can go to my mother's. She lives in the south. It's so cold there that these monster won't be able to survive."

Kya nodded in agreement. "What about the others?"

"I told them to head there." Sokka shouted from the front.

While traveling in the building, they remained safe, but Katara could see outside. She saw them. She saw the others who lived in the building fighting off these grotesque-looking things. They looked like they should be dead. Some of their hair was missing. Some even had a body part missing. But the one thing Katara noticed the most were their eyes, they looked dead. It was through realization that she recalled the newscast and the name of the virus: Waking Death. They were clearly dead, but somehow awake at the same time.

Kya noticed her daughter looking out the window, and quickly covered her eyes. "Don't look."

It was a short trip to reach the back entrance, but it was not as safe as they had planned. The area still had the infected. While the front had the most of them, some had made their way to the back door. It didn't help that they were attacking and infecting more, if they were able to survive. It looked like the infected were trying to eat the people they once called family, as if they were animals. Kill in a way that was too horrible for Katara to watch, yet she couldn't look away.

Sokka was busy clubbing one of the infected, trying to kill it and keep it away. Luckily Hakoda stepped in with his gun.

Slowly they began to notice that the ones who weren't killed were becoming infected as well. They were turning against their own families, attacking them. The infection was spreading.

Katara stood there, paralyzed by fear as she watched people she knew, people she considered family, feast on others. She couldn't look away.

It was then that Kya realized that her daughter was not by her side. The feeling that ran through her was so indescribable, but it was the worst feeling Kya had ever felt in her life. She turned to find her daughter, spotting her right away, while an infected was making his way toward the little girl.

Kya rushed over to her daughter, pushing her out of the way, toward Hakoda. Katara fell to the ground, but Hakoda was there to grab her and pick her up.

Everything became a blur. Hakoda was running. Katara could barely see anything behind her tears. But there was one thing she did know. They got away. Somehow, while Katara was crying, they got away.

"Honey?" Kya's voice came from behind them. Her tone scared Katara.

Hakoda turned to face his wife and right away he knew what was wrong. He saw his wife. He saw what she was looking at: a bite mark on her arm.

"No." Hakoda said as he set Katara down.

Sokka quickly rushed to his sister's side. He knew too.

"We'll find a cure, we have to get-"

"No." Kya stopped him. "You saw everyone else. They started turning once they were infected. I'm going to-"

"Don't say it!" Hakoda was already in tears. "We'll save you."

"You're not going to save me. You have to…" She didn't say the word, not in front of Sokka and Katara.

"Mommy?" Katara called for her.

Kya took a step toward her daughter, but then turned back. It was already beginning. She was turning.

"Come on Katara." Sokka pulled Katara away.

Katara tried to stay put though. She still didn't know what was going on, but Sokka dragged her away. She tried to push him away, but once she noticed the tears in his eyes, she followed.

The two walked away and waited. Sokka even had them climb a tree. "Just in case." He warned. And there they waited. The only thing that could be heard were the muted screams from their home.

Then there was a gunshot.

An hour later, Hakoda finally returned. He looked so different from before. The light in his eyes was gone. He looked so lonely.

Katara didn't ask where her mother was. She couldn't. Not when her father looked like that.

"Come on," he said. All the joy in his voice was gone. "We're going to the South Pole."


	3. The Boy in The Snow

"Katara!" Sokka shouted.

He was yards behind her. The ground beneath him still had snow on it, but the ground beneath her was just dirt. This was the furthest they've ever been, and Katara was daring to go further.

It was safe on the snow though. The snow meant cold, and after spending 10 years in the South Pole, they'd discovered that the Infected couldn't handle the snow. Or the cold, for that matter. Their bodies couldn't produce heat like a normal person, so they froze over much faster. People realized this and built the town further south, unreachable to the Infected that attempt to attack. These conditions were difficult for anyone to live in, but for the villagers, it was a life they'd grown used to.

However, it was a life Katara had grown bored with; sitting around and watching the world fall apart wasn't her idea of fun. In fact, it only angered the teenager. The rage within her grew daily as the news announced one city fallen after another. She wanted to do something, anything, but the letters from her father ordered her to do nothing, and her brother made sure of just that.

"Get back here, Katara!" He snapped at his sister.

"The animals are out here, Sokka. If we want to eat, we need to explore!"

That earned her a glare. She was right, of course, but Sokka wasn't okay with it. He followed her out though, leaves and branches crunching beneath his feet, a sound he wasn't used to.

They quickly moved to their normal position, back to back. Their guns were out, and their eyes were glued to the scenery around them. Nothing was going to get by them. Nothing ever had. This was something they've done for years, something they've perfected. While they could handle themselves when alone, together they were unstoppable force.

A crack was heard from a distance, stopping them in their tracks. Sokka pointed up to a tree, and Katara rushed over to it, climbing it with ease, while Sokka stood at the base. She looked out with her binoculars, hoping for some kind of animal, hopefully a polarbear-dog, or a penguinfox. They had no such luck though.

"Infected!" She shouted down to her brother.

"I told you this would happen!"

Despite his annoyance, Sokka reached up to help his sister down. She didn't move. He looked up at her with fear in his eyes as he called for her again, "Katara! Come on. We have to-"

"There's a boy!" She called back.

"And probably some girls too. The infection isn't sexist, Katara." Sarcasm was the only thing he had to mask his fear.

"No. I mean… Sokka, I don't think he's Infected."

"Good for him. Now let's go."

Even though his reply was a normal one, Katara couldn't help but be disgusted. She could never understand how Sokka could be so selfless and so selfish at the same time. But she did take the moment to climb down. The second she hit the ground, she moved towards the Infected instead of away, like Sokka was doing.

The second he noticed, Sokka turned around.

"Katara!"

"I'm not going to let him die!" She called back to her brother, not even bothering to stop. Katara was determined to help, and nothing was going to stop her.

"Idiot." Sokka grumbled to himself before chasing after Katara. There was no way he was going to let his sister face those Infected on her own.

Sokka followed his sister to find the group of Infected and the boy. The stranger looked odd. His skin was lighter than Sokka and Katara's, and he was bald with this odd tattoo on his head. For a split second, Sokka questioned the tattoo, but convinced himself it wasn't the time to think about that, it was the time to fight.

While the mysterious stranger fought off the Infected with just his hands, Katara and Sokka pulled out their weapons and began to fire. It was enough to draw the attention away from the boy onto them, which was the last thing Sokka wanted. He wanted them dead, even that stupid boy. It was his fault they were there now, and there was no way he was going to lose his life to save him, nor was he going to let his sister sacrifice her life for him either. This was so stupid.

"Get away!" The boy shouted at the siblings.

"Not until-" Katara began, but she was cut off.

An Infected got onto the stranger, biting down on his shoulder. The boy let out a scream of pain, throwing the body off of him. Sokka took the shot, aiming right for the head of the Infected. He was about to take aim at the stranger, but Katara stopped him.

"KATARA!"

"Wait! Look!"

Sokka did as his sister told him. The boy was on the ground screaming in pain as the virus attacked his brain cells. Instead he was attacking the final Infected, who was barely able to stand. In fact, he didn't even look bothered by the bit or the virus. He looked… normal.

"How…?" Sokka asked, in a daze.

He had seen so many change. He knew how fast the virus worked. He knew what it did to a person. And all those things? They weren't happening to the boy in front of them.

As Sokka looked on, confused, Katara took the shot, killing the final Infected.

"Are you alright?" Katara asked, keeping her distance. This was nothing she had ever seen before, and she wasn't stupid enough to run up to the stranger. Just because he looked alright didn't mean he was.

"Yeah. I'm fine. They've been chasing me for miles," the boy answered.

Hearing the boy's voice snapped Sokka out of his daze. He quickly aimed his gun at the boy once more.

"Alright kid! Who are you, and more importantly, WHAT are you?"

"My… my name is Aang." The boy replied.

Katara was finally getting a good look at him. He looked tired and thin, as if he hadn't slept or eaten in days, and the fact he could barely stand was proving that point.

"He is sick!" Sokka pointed out.

Right before he took the shot, Katara stopped him.

"No!" Aang said before Katara could. "I'm… I'm not. I know it's hard to believe but… I can't. I can't get sick."

Both Katara and Sokka gave him a look of disbelief.

"What do you mean?" Katara asked politely.

Sokka, on the other hand, was not as polite. "Everyone's affected. What do you think we are? Idiots?"

Aang couldn't stand any longer. He fell to his knees while trying to keep himself up. It was then that Katara noticed all his scars: bite marks.

"We have to take him back to the village." She ordered Sokka.

"NO WAY!" Sokka hissed. "I'm not bringing him back. I'm not putting my village in danger."

Katara rolled her eyes. "Your village? Sokka, you aren't the chief."

"I might as well be with dad gone!"

"Well, chief, I'm ignoring your order." Katara went over to the boy, helping him up.

"Thank you," Aang whispered.

"Don't talk. We'll get you back to the village and you can tell us what happened after you've rested."

Aang looked at Katara, smiling at her, at his savior. He couldn't look at her for long though — it was his first break in weeks, so he took a chance and closed his eyes.

As Aang slept. Katara and Sokka (who had wanted nothing to do with Aang), helped him back to the village. He slept for days.


End file.
